After months of back and forth discussion on the fate of the Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of killing two protesters and wounding another during protests in Kenosha after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Wisconsin court has set a $2 million bond for him.
What We Know:
- Rittenhouse was detained at his Antioch, Illinois home only a day after the August 25th shooting of two men, 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, who were fatally shot that night of demonstrations. A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, was also injured.
- After he was extradited back to Wisconsin on Friday, the 17-year-old appeared in a Kenosha County court via video on Monday. According to court records, he faces two felony homicide charges, attempted homicide, underage possession of a dangerous weapon, and reckless endangerment.
- The bond came about when Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger imposed to Court Commissioner Loren Keating to have the bond at $2 million due to the severity of the charges and because the court believes Rittenhouse is a “flight risk”.
“There is a certainty that if the defendant is convicted, he will be sent to prison and a strong likelihood that he will serve most, if not the remainder of his life, in prison if he is convicted of these charges,” Binger stated in the hearing.
- Binger also made a point that the shooter did not reside in Wisconsin and that his attorneys fought extradition. “I take that all to mean that the defendant doesn’t want to be here and if released, won’t come back,” he said.
- The shootings happened during a night of protests where unrest erupted after a viral video of Jacob Blake’s shooting went public. The officers involved have since been put on administrative leave, and a Wisconsin Department of Justice has an ongoing investigation of the incident.
- Back to the viral video of Rittenhouse, he fled the scene of the shooting and walked towards the police. There was a distinct moment when Rittenhouse stated, “I just killed somebody.” In retaliation, others attacked him and from the crowd, one could hear people yelling “Beat him up!” and “Get him,” according to complaints filed by prosecutors
Before the $2M bond was set, Rittenhouse’s attorney Mark Richards, stated during Monday’s hearing that his client was attacked and acted in self-defense. He explained how Rittenhouse seemingly tried to turn himself in after the shooting but police ignored his approach. Richards later requested for the bond to be set to $750,000, but to no avail.
